How God redeemed the pain of Aniela's abortion and made it a mission

Aniela Chis grew up in loving, Christian home with deep Eastern European roots; yet during her teen years, she found herself searching for love, belonging, and acceptance outside her family and faith community. In her senior year of high school, she found herself unexpectedly pregnant.

“I was filled with shame and guilt,” Chis told Live Action News. “I knew I couldn’t dishonor my parents. It wasn’t their fault I had gotten pregnant and I felt it would be unjust to subject them to embarrassment and humiliation.”

Though she had attended church services regularly with her family all her life, God seemed distant to her at that time. Rather than seeking help in her faith community, she said she “pretty much ran away from the church.”

But she found little support outside that community.

Friends at school encouraged her to end the pregnancy, and her boyfriend also took a “hands-off” approach. She was ultimately left to face a life-altering decision alone. 

“I felt like I had to hurry up and schedule the abortion, put the experience behind me, and get right with God,” she said. “I was a desperate and frightened young woman trying to find a quick way out.”

Because she was still a minor, the abortion clinic staff found a legal workaround to enable her to get an abortion without her parents’ knowledge.

A Message of Hope

After the abortion, she first felt relief – the experience behind her, she was looking forward to graduating. But relief gave way to tormenting thoughts that plagued her continually.

“I felt sad; it seemed surreal what I had done,” Chis recalled. “I wondered who would love me. Self-condemnation and hopelessness weighed heavily on me. I couldn’t talk with anyone — particularly Christian women.”

Despite feeling disconnected from the church, she continued to attend services. One day, she was in her room and experiencing negative thoughts when she had a personal and transformative encounter with the Lord.

“He told me that He knew what I had done but also that I was the one who He had come for,” Chis recalled of the emotional moment. “Immediately, Luke 19:10 came to mind, [which says Christ] "came to seek and save that which was lost.’ For the first time, I felt hope, that I could be saved, that God could get me out of this pit.”

Eventually, Chis sought counsel from a pastor she trusted, sharing her story openly and honestly with him and expressing her desire to be baptized. The pastor responded with kindness, meeting her with grace and compassion. This supportive encounter reignited her connection to the church, and she felt drawn back to her faith community once again.

“After I got baptized, I got back on track and eventually met my husband,” she said. “I wondered at the time if I should share my background with him, so I prayed about it.”

But her concerns, though understandable, were unfounded; her future husband  also responded with love and acceptance. This allowed her to enter marriage with a sense of freedom, honesty, and transparency.

“Years later, I came across a post-abortive healing ministry called ‘Surrendering the Secret,’ Chis said. “So much more healing occurred; it was a transformational experience.” Eventually, she began leading a group of women using that same curriculum to help them find the healing and freedom she had experienced.

The Church’s Role... and a New Mission

Chis began to realize that God was still writing her story. He had given her a desire to see the church become a stronger place of refuge and healing for post-abortive individuals.

“The church has a big role to play in helping post-abortive men and women who are grappling with the shame of abortion in helping them to find redemption and healing,” she said. 

Because of this conviction, she now partners with churches, training pastors and providing them with practical tools and resources to minister effectively to women and men in their own congregations who have been wounded by abortion — individuals who are spiritually and emotionally where she once was.

She also recognized that church leaders need resources tailored specifically for this type of ministry, so she developed an online resource platform that features practical tools, guidance, and educational materials.

“The goal of this digital space was to empower pastors to better support individuals dealing with the trauma of abortion, providing them with the knowledge and resources necessary to foster healing and hope within their congregations,” Chis noted.

That’s also how her podcast, “Spotlight on Life,” came to be. Through engaging in honest conversations with individuals involved in the pro-life movement, Chis aims for her podcast to expand and educate more faith communities, so they, too, can be motivated and equipped to minister with compassion to those facing the challenges of abortion regret and recovery.

“I believe God has redeemed my story,” Chis said. “I went from no hope to thriving. Now, my mission is to help others do the same.”